


Ripped Off

by nanifairy (ktwrites1530)



Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Binhwan - Freeform, Ghosts, M/M, Paranormal, bobhwan, i think we're going through all Jinhwan ships in this haha, junhwan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 06:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20578142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktwrites1530/pseuds/nanifairy
Summary: Coming off his recovery from a brutal attack, Jinhwan is trying to ease back into his normal life.And then he runs into a man that only he could not see.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> \- iKON members in this story are more or less of the same age unless specified  
\- IMPORTANT CONTENT WARNING: Violence, abuse, possible character death, bullying

_“No, no, no… Please don’t!” _

There was a maniacal laugh, and another blow hit him squarely on his jaw. He let out a cry of pain, but he knew the blows wouldn’t stop any moment soon. He felt one of the two men holding him up lick his cheek, and he shuddered in response. The grip around his arms felt like they were about to cut out the oxygen supply around his arms soon, and that he was certain they were going to bruise.

But bruises are the least of his concerns now.

Before he could even let out another unheard protest, two punches hit both sides of his abdomen with brutal force, and two kicks to his knees made him buckle, falling to the ground even with the strength of the two men holding him. They released him, causing him to fall forward, his face landing in the mud that the heavy rain had created. He swallowed some of it, making breathing even harder than it already was. He lifted his head from the water and gasped for air, his lungs hurting with every touch of air.

“It has to be done,” he heard one of the men say into his ear. He scrambled to cover his face with his deeply wounded arms, just as the man reached forward, gripping his hair tightly, so tightly that he thought he would rip if off his scalp. His hands flailed in response—they might be broken as well, but he couldn’t feel it anymore—and then he didn’t move, exposing him further to the violence that started when he walked by this alley.

“You shouldn’t have fought,” added another harsh voice, and there was another kick to his stomach area. He could taste his own blood in his mouth, mixed with the taste of soil. But he couldn’t feel his entire body anymore; he had reached that threshold of pain that the brain shuts off the pain receptors in order to help in survival. He let out a moan, and there was another barrage of kicks, punches, and shoves, sending him rolling all over the muddy ground.

He couldn’t open his eyes to see who his attackers were. He had never passed by this alley on his way home, but the road the he usually used on the way to his house was closed for renovations. Regret seeped into his being, thinking that he should’ve just opted for the highway where other people passed.

But regrets always came too late.

“Let’s go, guys. We only need him near death and not dead.”

_IT’S OVER. _

But there was a part of him—almost disappointed—that nagged: _Why do they only want me near death, and not… DEAD? They don’t intend to kill me? _

One more goodbye kick—this one landed on his head, the metal heel of the work boot connecting with his temple—and then they were gone, their laughs filling the air as adrenaline from their violent escapade coursed through their veins.

“No,” he thought hard. “I am not going to die.”

He flipped through his mental Rolodex—his harebrained mother, his friends, Junhoe (because he didn’t exactly have a category to fit him in), his best friend Jiwon, and his non-existent dad that he wanted to look for. His life wasn’t ideal, but it was worth living despite the imperfections.

_I AM NOT GOING TO DIE. _

He lifted his head, the pain blinding him. He reached in front of him and crawled, dragging his entire body, using the very last ounce of energy he had to move. He wasn’t sure if he _was_ moving, because he felt like he was just there, stuck.

But it was better than doing nothing.

_I AM NOT GOING TO DIE IN THIS ALLEY_.

He crawled—the rocks, pebbles, and mud seeping into his cuts and wounds as he did. The end of the alley near the road was still too far. It was his light at the end of the tunnel, but it was so far.

_Why was it too far? _

He saw a car stop at the road at the end of the alley, but he didn’t know if this was his version of an oasis in the middle of the dessert. He immediately regretted that he didn’t have a whistle on him or that he didn’t know how to whistle despite Jiwon trying to teach him several times.

“Help,” he said, but it came out barely a whisper.

The car moved, speeding away, and he felt his life slipping away.

The man’s maniacal laugh repeated in his head, and then he lost consciousness, the darkness consuming him.


	2. The man he couldn't see

“Hey, Jinhwan!”

“Ya, Jinhwan-ssi, nice to see you out and about!”

“Jinhwan! I’ve got some cookies for your mom. Can you take it with you?”

Jinhwan let out a soft sigh. _Oh Liberta_. There were days when Jinhwan wonders why he had stayed in this town, the town where everybody knows everyone and where seemingly no secrets were kept.

Even his mom’s favorite cookie wasn’t a secret to the neighbourhood baker.

The town of Liberta was small, with a population of only 2,604. The bakery, grocery, bookstore, hardware, tailor, coffee shop, bank, and pretty much everything else you need was found only one street: Canyon Street. Canyon Street was bustling and fun—and it was where every single student of Hope University was during summer breaks such as this one.

The leaves were starting to fall from the big old oak trees that lined Canyon Street and the winds were picking up, signalling that the days before the school officially starts again were dwindling. Three days, in fact. Jinhwan looked forward to school as he did—weirdly so—enjoy studying, but there was something else that he wasn’t particularly excited about.

The whispers. The curious looks. The stories. The gossips.

He gets them daily, ever since he came out of his so-called ‘hiding,’ but that didn’t mean he was okay with it.

Jinhwan turned to Mr. Kwon, the only baker in town (well, pretty much everyone in Liberta was ‘only’—only mailman, only butcher, only bank manager…). The forty-something, big burly man with an already receding hairline and well-developed muscles earned probably by carrying sacks and sacks of flour used to court Jinhwan’s mom—but then again, almost half of the guys in Liberta did at one point in their lives. He doesn’t know what about his mom, Sana Kim, appealed to them.

Could it be because despite being hare-brained and messy, she had managed to raise a kid singlehandedly, one that she bore when she was only 16?

“Hi Mr. Kwon,” Jinhwan greeted him, and for a moment, the baker was transfixed on the scares on Jinhwan’s face. After the attack, he had gotten this reaction quite often. Junhoe had told him countless of times that the scars made him sexier, but Jinhwan doesn’t believe him. There were days when he would stare at his reflection in the mirror—his hair that he let grow long unlike his usual because who would care about the way he looked when all he saw the past few months were his therapist, doctors, Junhoe, and Bobby, his eyes black with brown flecks in them and so expressive that they could barely keep any emotion in them, his pointed nose that was far from the pudgy one that his mom had pre-plastic surgery, his not-too-tall-but-not-too-short stature that was almost always dwarfed by Junhoe and his basketball player friends… and the scars.

One of them barely missed the heart-shaped mole he had on his right cheek, the product of that goodbye kick that caused a deep cut.

His other scars were hidden underneath all his clothes, but they were all a testament to all the surgeries and rehab work he had to undergo just to get back onto his own two feet again.

Jinhwan might be the same on the outside—mostly—but he was never the same on the inside.

Not after that attack.

“Like I said before, Jinhwan-ssi,” Mr. Kwon started to say, implying the ‘before’ when he was still courting Jinhwan’s mother, “please call me Jiyong.” He gave Jinhwan a kind smile. The younger one met Jiyong’s kind eyes, and the baker handed him a paper bag heavy with the chocolate chip cookies that both he and his mom both have a passion for. He thanked Mr. Kwon and started to walk towards his main destination: the bookstore.

Jinhwan could get lost in that place. _Seiyeon’s Nook. _That was the one place that still remained the same for him, no matter how much his life changed because of the men his mother sees or the attack several months ago. Seiyeon, the bookstore owner, had seen him so many times in her bookstore that she trusted Jinhwan enough to give him a spare set of keys, so he could go there whenever he wanted to. During summer, it was where Jinhwan also takes up his summer job to earn money, but he skipped it for this year.

Violent attacks could do that to you. 

Jinhwan passed by a couple of Hope University students at the coffee shop and they waved at him, afterwards resuming their conversation with their eyes fixated on Jinhwan. _Glad to know you’ve found something to talk about_, Jinhwan thought bitterly. He took another deep breath and thought hard, just like how he did on the night he was attacked: _I just have to make it to the bookstore. Just make it there, and then I’ll be fine_.

“Hey, hey—watch it!”

In his surprise, Jinhwan dropped the bag of cookies to the ground, spilling some of it onto the sidewalk. He hit this weird wall of extremely cold air that made him fall and land on the ground on this butt. Goosebumps appeared in his arms, and he didn’t know if it was because of the cold or because of something else.

_“Aw_,” he said through gritted teeth. He looked up and saw nothing, but he heard this irritated, dark, fluid voice, “Why aren’t you looking where you’re going?”

Jinhwan blinked. Once, twice, thrice. But he still couldn’t see anything. When the voice spoke again, he figured the man was above him, looming. He turned his eyes onto the pavement where he landed, and there was this shadow, a figure that almost reminded him of Junhoe but not quite—same tall stature, not too fat but not too thin, lean, muscular, almost athlete-like bod.

His breath got caught in his throat.

_What the hell…? _

“Hey,” the guy said, and he felt cold air brush against his elbow. Jinhwan crawled back, slowly, away from the guy that he couldn’t see. He felt the man stop too, for the air disappeared around him, and the shadow moved away from him.

“What the—” he heard the man say, obviously puzzled like him. Then Jinhwan heard him cuss, the cold air disappearing.

He glanced on the pavement, and the shadow was gone.

The man he couldn’t see was gone.

******

“Bad day, babe?”

Jinhwan froze—his normal reaction ever since the assault. But it was just Junhoe, no need to panic. Supposedly _his _Junhoe. Junhoe swooped down on him and kissed Jinhwan on the cheek. He then hugged him from behind, straddling the bench where Jinhwan sat, placing his chin on Jinhwan’s shoulder.

Jinhwan smiled inwardly. This was one of the few reasons he was raring to go back to Hope University: Koo Junhoe, his sort-of boyfriend. Sort of because 1) Junhoe hasn’t asked him what their status was, and 2) they seemed to be happier this way (or at least, based on Jinhwan’s perception).

“Aside from the usual whispers, inquiring looks, and fingers pointing to me, Jaeho,” Jinhwan said, making Jinhwan groan. He rubbed Jinhwan’s back, offering some sort of comfort. Junhoe knew he couldn’t do anything with the gossiping—with Liberta being a small town and all. Nearly everyone in their town had been a victim of some gossip, a silly rumor, or a reality that sucked and had to be talked about at least once when they live in Liberta.

“He slept at your house again, huh?” Junhoe asked, and Jinhwan nodded. It wasn’t a secret, too, in Liberta, that his mom switches guys just almost as quickly as she buys her new clothes.

But then again, maybe Jaeho was different, because his mother had been going out with him for the past three months.

“You know, he might be the real deal,” said Junhoe, vocalizing his thoughts. It amazed Jinhwan how he and Junhoe almost always think alike. He turned to face him, their lips a few inches away from each other’s. “Let’s see, Junhoe-ah: that’s what you said with Seungjae and Hongseok and the couple of guys before them,” Jinhwan replied with a smirk.

“Fine. Point taken,” Junhoe whispered in reply, closing the distance between them, giving him a light kiss on the lips this time.

“Hey lovebirds!” greeted Donghyuk, Jinhwan’s best friend. His platinum blonde hair danced with the wind as he flopped down on the bench. His attire made Jinhwan frown—he was wearing a crisp, powder blue polo shirt which was a far cry from his usual oversized shirt and jeans get-up. Donghyuk was a bright person by nature, but the shirt and his hair made him shine even brighter.

“Why…?” Jinhwan asked, leaving the question hanging, his eyebrow raised, and a mischievous smile played on Donghyuk’s lips.

“New guy in town,” he said, pointing to the opposite side of the street. New guy in Liberta would definitely trump the news of Jinhwan getting attacked six months ago and he’s alive.

_I should thank this guy_, Jinhwan thought.

Jinhwan followed Donghyuk’s gaze towards the gates, and at first glance he couldn’t see what—or who—his best friend was pertaining to.

All of a sudden, Jinhwan felt cold. This was it. The boy he couldn’t see.

_Maybe I shouldn’t be thankful just yet. He goes to Hope University? _Jinhwan thought.

And then he was there, the boy. He appeared fluid—like a waterfall—and Jinhwan could see the _Welcome to Hope University _sign behind him _through _him. He formed a shape of a man, but that was it—Jinhwan couldn’t make out a face. He was just… a fluid, film-like shape.

Jinhwan’s breathing became erratic, the air suddenly thin around him.

“Hey, babe, are you okay?” Junhoe asked, poking him lightly on the arm. He turned towards his sort-of boyfriend and saw that there was an appraising look on his face. Donghyuk took a break from ogling at the newcomer and turned to Jinhwan, a worried look on his face.

Jinhwan took a deep breath and forced a smile.

“Yeah,” Jinhwan replied, trying to liven up his voice and to placate his heart.

It dawned unto him that he was the only one who could see the new guy this way—through him—and no one else. Just him.

Junhoe and Donghyuk stood up to check out the newbie. The latter gushed about the guy, who was now bouncing a basketball as he was met by other members of the Hope University Cougars, their school’s basketball team. It was, again, freaky—he was just seeing a fluid figure bouncing the ball by its lonesome.

“Hey, Jinani!” called Bobby, the Cougars’ starting center, Jinhwan’s other best friend and his only ex-boyfriend. To Jinhwan’s sheer horror (and to Donghyuk’s delight), Bobby nudged the newbie and pointed to where Jinhwan, Junhoe, and Donghyuk were.

Jinhwan tried to cough through his surprise that Bobby’s elbow didn’t go through the newbie.

_Solid. He’s damn solid to other people_, he thought, rushing to stand as he needed a bit more air. And then he cussed inwardly, seeing that Bobby and the new guy were walking towards them. _Why did I forget that Junhoe is the team captain of the Cougars? _

Donghyuk fixed himself, smoothing the creases on his shirt. Junhoe stood up, standing just behind Jinhwan, almost looming, giving the impression that he was actually his (in one way or another).

“Donghyuk, Jinhwan, this is Kim Hanbin, a transferee from Nami. He’s also a member of the Cougars now,” said Junhoe once Bobby’s party reached them. Donghyuk reached out to shake Hanbin’s hand, which Jinhwan assumed the latter had offered. He couldn’t see—well, he could, if he would squint hard enough, like finding the edge of clear plastic or thick file. Like scotch tape, where you had to run your fingers through the roll to check where the end—or the start of the tape, depending on how you look at it—is.

Out of sheer impatience, Jinhwan just waved, a haphazard flipping of his hand through the wind, greeting him with a hollow ‘hi.’

Junhoe frowned, for Jinhwan was sure the newbie’s hand was extended towards his direction. On a normal day, Jinhwan was friendly and approachable—and he would’ve smiled widely and beamed at the guy, shaking his hand and greeting him a lively hello.

But this man wasn’t normal.

“We met,” Hanbin said in that fluid voice of his, and Junhoe turned to him, that frown on his handsome face deepening. “He crashed into me while walking down Canyon,” he supplied, and Jinhwan just nodded in response. He was thankful for Donghyuk, who diverted the topic.

“How come he’s already a Cougar?”

Junhoe shrugged, his eyes finally leaving Jinhwan’s face as he turned to Donghyuk. “He tried out months ago, before he transferred, but back then he was just an option for the reserve team. Since Minseok is injured and Jongin is missing in action, we need a new point guard. He’s the best one I’ve seen from all the reserves. I talked to Coach Park, and we called him up,” Junhoe explained, mentioning the star point guard and his backup.

Donghyuk bounced towards Hanbin. “Did anyone tour you already around the campus?” he asked, and Jinhwan rolled his eyes at the tone his best friend used, because it was thick with flirting. He knew that the naïve version of Donghyuk won’t be coming out anytime he would be around Hanbin. Jinhwan’s reaction didn’t escape Junhoe, and the latter gave Jinhwan a one-arm embrace.

“Give him a chance,” Junhoe whispered. “I’ve heard people say he’s hot. I, too, am wondering why you’re not swooning over him.”

Jinhwan hit him playfully on the arm, his chuckle fake as he let it out. _How exactly can I swoon over a guy whom I couldn’t even see_?

Jinhwan wanted to pull Junhoe away—anywhere but near Hanbin who freaks him out. He wondered if Hanbin knew he couldn’t see him. If he did, what was he going to do about it? _Did he enrol in Hope University because he knew this was where I am enrolled, too?_

His thoughts raced in his mind.

_Get a grip_, he chastised himself.

Hope University was just one of the two schools in their small time—the other being the very exclusive Donatello Institute. The tuition there was probably triple of what people pay for Hope, so nearly everyone in town went to Hope. Jinhwan hasn’t met anyone who had studied or was studying in Donatello—so Hope U was the logical choice for Hanbin.

_Besides, _Jinhwan continued to think, _what can Hanbin do to me? He couldn’t touch me, can he? _He tracked back from the first time they met, and Hanbin didn’t touch him. He felt cold—that was it.

Jinhwan gathered his things, the laughs of the guys and Hanbin behind him as Donghyuk continued to flirt with him. And if Jinhwan would judge based on Hanbin’s laugh, his best friend was doing a fairly good job at it. When he finished packing, he searched for Junhoe’s eyes, which were, almost always when he’s around, on him. He gave his sort-of boyfriend a tender smile, hiding his panic. Junhoe stepped towards him, placing him around his arms, kissing him on the hair.

“Kim Jinhwan!”

Jinhwan cringed at the sound of the school principal’s voice, Mr. Chen. _Uh-oh_. The couple turned and saw Mr. Chen beam at Hanbin through his spectacles, and that settled it for Jinhwan—_I am the only one who couldn’t see him. _Mr. Chen eyed Junhoe’s arm around Jinhwan but didn’t comment, and that made Junhoe pull him tighter towards him.

Mr. Chen handed him a sheet of paper. “Take Hanbin around, will you?” he said, and he was about to protest when Junhoe pressed on his shoulder. Jinhwan took the paper, and a quick glance told him it was Hanbin’s class schedule.

As if on cue, the bell rang, and the crowd slowly dispersed. Jinhwan turned to Junhoe, complaint ready. “Why me? I haven’t been in school for the past six months—”

“Shh,” Junhoe said, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “You know you’re his go-to person for this, even before the…” he stopped, his voice trailing. Jinhwan just sighed, he was the school tourist guide after all—not that they get a lot of newcomers in Liberta—pre-assault. Junhoe cleared his throat before giving him another quick peck, heading off. He and Junhoe weren’t in the same classes, but Bobby had four classes in common with him. Donghyuk gave him a wink before heading out to his own class, as if telling Jinhwan to take care of Hanbin for him.

Helpless, Jinhwan watched as one by one, the members of Cougars left him with Hanbin after saying their jock-style goodbyes.

“So, my first class is… Physics,” Hanbin said.

His voice sent shivers down Jinhwan’s spine. Cold air loomed over his right shoulder, and Jinhwan imagined that he was standing over him, peering over his shoulder while checking the class schedule in his hands. He turned and squinted, and he finally saw the lines that shaped Hanbin’s fluid figure. He _was _taller, only a couple of inches shorter than Junhoe.

The minute Jinhwan spotted his image, it disappeared again when Hanbin moved.

Jinhwan sighed heavily. If this would always be the case, he would have to use sheer imagination whenever he had to interact with Hanbin, which he planned to keep at a minimum. If he had to stay away from him so that he wouldn’t feel stupid squinting just to see him, he would do just that.

“Yes,” Jinhwan breathed, turning to face the doors. He took another deep breath and reminded himself to calm down. He just needed to get through today, taking Hanbin around, and then he wouldn’t have to deal too much with the guy he couldn’t see. It also took his mind off the whispers he had been getting and the first day back jitters.

_Is he a ghost of some sort? _

Jinhwan turned his attention to the schedule in his hand, analysing the grip on the paper. “And you’re in my class,” he continued, unable to mask the disappointment in his voice. _Okay, maybe my interactions with this guy won’t be limited to him being teammates with Junhoe_, he thought. He picked up his bag and was about to grab his book when it moved, floating in the air.

_Hanbin. Hanbin is holding it, _Jinhwan told himself, as panic began to rise up his chest again.

“Thanks,’ Jinhwan muttered, and he walked ahead of him.

“So, you’re Junhoe’s boyfriend?” said Hanbin, and Jinhwan shot him a glare. That was a way too personal question to ask on their first (formal) meeting. Even Bobby and the other guys on the team didn’t even ask him that.

And he was asking a question Jinhwan couldn’t answer, one that he was scared to ask himself.

“I didn’t know we’re that close already,” he quipped, and Hanbin quickly apologized.

Jinhwan grunted his acceptance of his apology, cocking his head towards the direction of the classrooms. They went up a flight of stairs, bumping into a couple of girls who held appraising glances for his companion, and Jinhwan got pretty curious as to what they were appreciating. They endured the entire length of the empty corridor without talking, but Jinhwan could feel Hanbin close to him because he just felt cool all over, like a light breeze was constantly around him.

They finally reached Room 214 and Jinhwan pushed the door open, cussing internally once more when he saw the only vacant seat in the room was the one next to his.

“Mr. Park, this is Kim Hanbin,” Jinhwan said to their Physics teacher, and later on he realized it was a futile introduction, since Mr. Park is also the basketball coach. He handed Hanbin his schedule, and he felt the cold air near his hand. The paper was tugged away, and then his book floated towards him. He took it and muttered another thanks, and then headed to his seat.

Jinhwan tried to ignore Hanbin for majority of the period, but he couldn’t escape the man come English. When Jinhwan studied Hanbin’s schedule, he discovered it was an exact copy of his, which made him groan.

“Please don’t tell me we’re classmates again,” he heard Hanbin say, and Jinhwan rolled his eyes. Hanbin had followed him, and they walked to the next classroom. “Don’t make it sound like I wanted to be around you, too,” Jinhwan replied sharply, and Hanbin quickly apologized.

“I mean… I saw how you feel awkward around me, you know. I can take a hint. You don’t like me,” Hanbin replied, sounding a bit hurt.

The air around Jinhwan ruffled again, from his right to his left, and then it stayed there. Jinhwan stopped walking and the air was gone, and after two seconds, it was back to his side. Hanbin must have backtracked when Jinhwan stopped. He felt guilty all of a sudden, because he rarely was rash and brazen towards anyone.

_Does me not seeing him count as a reason for being rash? _he thought. _It seems like a valid reason, no? _

“Sorry. Let’s just go to the next class,” Jinhwan said, trying to sound more patient and apologetic. He felt an up and down movement, so he concluded Hanbin was nodding. He forced a smile, leading him towards Room 230.

Hanbin didn’t say anything more, dropping the topic altogether.

******

That night, Jinhwan couldn’t sleep. He twisted, turned, got off the bed, laid down again, stared at the ceiling, and still couldn’t sleep. His mind was in overdrive. _Why can’t I see Hanbin? _

Yes, he survived all his classes today with Hanbin around, and at the end of the day, he couldn’t help but crash into Junhoe’s arms when they finally saw each other. There was this feeling of relief that he didn’t have to pretend anymore that he couldn’t see Hanbin.

_You okay? _he remembered Bobby asking him too. He also couldn’t hide anything from Bobby, as the latter could read him better than anyone else. So when he nodded and mouthed yes, he knew that Bobby knew he was lying.

_How can I survive the whole year pretending? _

With Hanbin around, Jinhwan felt like he was talking to a ghost and no one could see but him. But this was a reverse situation—everyone else could see him _except _Jinhwan.

_Is Hanbin a twisted version of a ghost? _

_Okay, I’ll settle for that, _Jinhwan concluded. His mother was a huge believer in ghosts, spirits, souls, the afterlife, and all that jazz. He grew up with his mom telling him how spirits go to hell and the others to heaven, while some get stuck in the purgatory, and how there _is _an afterlife.

Jinhwan resolved one thing before sleep engulfed him: _With what he had been through, he can handle ghosts—that is, if Hanbin is one. _

**Author's Note:**

> Any feedback, comment here, or @ me on Twitter (@kecachata), or cc: https://curiouscat.me/kecachata


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